By Adam Swift
Over the next several weeks, the planning board is expected to make a recommendation on an MBTA 3A Communities Act compliance plan to the town council.
According to Council President Jim Letterie, the council could take its vote to either approve the plan and send it onto the state or reject it at either its last meeting in September or its first meeting in October.
Tuesday night, the council held a joint meeting with the planning board for an update on its progress on the 3A recommendations. During the nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting, there were updates about some of the biggest questions about the shape of the plan the board looks likely to recommend from RKG Consultants.
During the question and comment period from the council and residents, there continued to be a divide among those who believe the council should outright reject any 3A recommendation, questioning the government overreach and questions about how it would impact the Seal Harbor and Governors Park condo complex agreements, and those who believe the town should move forward with the RKG plan, which they said would be a paper compliance and give the town the time to focus on more serious issues.
“We feel this is the lowest impact,” said Planning Board Chair Chris Boyce of the potential compliance plan.
The plan would create overlay districts in the Seal Harbor and Governor’s Park areas which already contain more dwelling units than would be required under the 3A overlay district.
In addition, the town would be able to leverage 221 units in the Central Business District to help offset the 3A requirements as a mixed-use offset.
“Our goal has been as close to zero impact from 3A as we can get, I think you will see the efforts we have made in the past with this study,” said Boyce. “Councilors in the past have asked about how we can take credit for the density that we already have in town, being one of the densest towns in Massachusetts. The town has made efforts in the last three decades to continue housing creation and we feel like we have some pathways here to take advantage of that and credit be given to Winthrop for the efforts we have made.”
Boyce noted that a recommendation from his board or a vote from the council does not preclude the town from continuing to explore full exemptions for the density it already has and does not prevent it from continuing to monitor the legal cases filed by the towns of Milton and Rockport over 3A.
“This puts us, with the combined offset of the 221 (units in the CBD) at 895 units, which is 13 units over the (state) requirement, which puts us in compliance,” said Town Manager Tony Marino of the plan with overlay districts in Governor’s Park and Seal Harbor.
Marino said the state, through its Executive Office of Housing and Liveable Communities, has worked with the town and RKG Consultants as they have worked on the compliance plan.
“They understand that we want to acknowledge the existing zoning,” said Marino. “Unfortunately, they are bound by the laws and the criteria of the guidelines that are passed by the state. They have to follow those, they don’t have the ability to deviate or change those.
“They are trying to work with us within those guidelines to come up with this plan that has minimal impact for Winthrop.”
Marino noted that the units that would be allowed with the overlay zoning is less than what is currently allowed at Seal Harbor and Governor’s Park.
“Our target and our goal from the council was to bring forward a plan with minimal impact, allow us to comply, and we feel like that is what we did, with minimal or no new units being created,” said Marino.
Town Attorney Jim Cipoletta addressed some of the concerns raised about how the compliance plan and the overlay district would affect the condominium documents for those residents living in the developments, as well as other potential legal issues.
“We are not looking for litigation, but the best way to avoid a fight is to be ready for the fight,” he said. “I think the plan that the planning board, the council, and Tony are trying to cobble together here, and hopefully with a view towards satisfying the state, is going to come to fruition.”
Cipoletta noted that if the town does not comply with 3A, it will face punitive measures from the state, such as the loss of grant money.
“So if the town does not adopt a plan, or a plan is presented and it is knocked down and another one is not slid into its place as a substitute plan and we go the way of some other communities, then not only are we going to lose the funding of these grants that are very important because they refer to things such as seawalls and flood control … but we are also going to be doing battle in the Superior Court and maybe beyond with the attorney general’s office,” said Cipoletta.
As for the condominium documents, Cipoletta said his research said they would not be affected by the 3A overlay zoning.
“Now, nobody has interpreted that at the state level,” he said. “I am not the arbiter of that, but in my conversations with the people at the attorney general’s office … tells me that condominium associations and condos that are presently existing do not have to worry. Nothing is going to change, nothing is going to be affected in any way by that.
“Only newly established condominiums who choose to establish in the 3A overlay district would be affected.”
However, several residents and councilors, including residents of the condo developments, noted that it was difficult to trust the state when there was no official correspondence stating the zoning change would not impact the documents, as well as the fact that the 3A regulations themselves have undergone numerous changes over the past several years.
“Even with Mr. Cipoletta’s explanation, I’m still not convinced, because we have nothing formally in writing,” said Precinct 4 Councilor Suzanne Swope. “We have conversations, we have nothing in writing that says condominiums are exempt from any changes in 3A zoning. It’s not just Seal Harbor, and it’s not just Governor’s Park, it could be anyplace in Winthrop or any other town.”
Council Vice President Hannah Belcher said she wanted to acknowledge how different the current compliance plan looks from the one that was drawn up by a previous consultant.
“That plan showed 2,200 units and had overlays in all sorts of places that we don’t see on this map,” said Belcher.
Precinct 2 Councilor John Munson said that when considering the compliance plan, the town is faced with uncertainty on the changing regulations at the state level, as well as the possibility of the town missing out on millions of dollars of grant money if a compliance plan is not approved.
“I think a lot of us want to say yes because we don’t want to have to come out of pocket and we certainly don’t want to see flooding in our own town and have neighborhoods start to disappear because we don’t have the millions of dollars that the state is going to help us with,” said Munson. “I want to say yes, but there is so much distrust still, and I think it would require something in the lines of an additional guideline for a lot of these people to vote, and I’m not saying they are voting, and I’d be fine if this was a referendum. But … as of right now, it is still a trust game and a judgment call and it’s not really there yet.”
Precinct 1 Councilor Pat Costigan said he has been suspect of 3A since it was first introduced at the state level.
“Winthrop is a small town … we are congested beyond belief, traffic issues,” said Costigan.
He said he agreed with Swope that the town should have an opinion from the state on official letterhead on the status of the condo documents under 3A.
“We’ve done our part, and will continue to do our part, I believe, but how much more can Winthrop take as it relates to congestion,” said Costigan. “We all live here because we love this town, it is that small, unique, American town that we all love. I don’t want to see it turn into Revere, East Boston, or any of these monstrosities that are springing up all over the place.”
Todd Sacco was among the residents who spoke against the council approving a 3A compliance plan.
“The word trust was brought up by one of the councilors, and the same councilor questioned whether the law would change in the future,” said Sacco.
Sacco said the state’s housing office has already changed the 3A guidelines four times.
“I’m not sure why there is a question whether they would do it, and they will do it again,” said Sacco. “We have no reason to trust them … we should be voting no on this and making it go away.”
Several residents, however, said the town should move forward with a compliance plan and tackle bigger issues in Winthrop.
“I know quite a bit about the MBTA Communities Act, and I do not think it is a defining issue of this town,” said Fields. “I think climate change is a defining issue of this town, I think workforce housing and development are defining issues of this town. I think that we have a lot of opportunities to pursue things that can help make the best Winthrop possible, and noncompliance with this law is not a path that I wish to see us go down for those reasons.”